Lee Clarion issue stolen from stands

If you couldn’t find a copy of the April 17 issue of the Lee Clarion, chances are you weren’t the one who stole approximately 1,550 copies of Volume 63, Issue 12 from campus newsstands.

The newspapers were likely stolen because of an article regarding changes in Greek society since revisions in induction policy.

The article, “Two years later: Has Greek society changed,” discussed the contrast between new and old members during induction and mentioned a Pi Kappa Pi newsletter that discussed upcoming inductions. The newsletter was quoted, “We never put anyone in the hospital durin[g] induction…so I guess we should take this opportunity and try…”

Adam Marroquin, the president of Pi, said that one member of the club’s executive council was responsible for producing the newsletter, though he wouldn’t deny that it was the secretary’s job.

The copies were stolen off newsstands sometime between 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday, April 17. The managing editor contacted Lee University Campus Safety regarding the theft. The perpetrator of the crime remains unidentified.

Although it is not clear why the copies of the Lee Clarion were stolen, members of Pi Kappa Pi wrote on the Lee Clarion Facebook wall on the day the issue came out.

Themba Moyo, secretary of Pi, commented on a status update informing readers that a new issue of the newspaper had been distributed.

“This one isn’t that great…” he said. “Lookin’ forward to the next one.”

Pi member Maurice Huggins wrote the following comment on the wall regarding the author of the article:

“Harrison Keely is an idiot tell him to quote me on that!!”

The comment has since been removed due to a Lee Clarion policy that disallows personal attacks in comments.

Total damages are estimated at more than $300.

Mike Hiestand, a legal consultant to the Student Press Law Center, said newspaper theft is a form of censorship.

“Greek organizations, for example, have occasionally seen newspaper theft as the best way to kill a story that includes negative news about their fraternity or sorority (or one of their members) and have frequently sent out thieves en masse,” he wrote.

The SLPC notes that possible charges include petty theft, criminal mischief, grand larceny and destruction of property.

The April 17 theft isn’t the first of the Lee Clarion.

Campus Safety became involved after approximately 500 copies of old and new issues of the Lee Clarion were taken from three stands in the Dixon Center and student union March 25. The majority of those issues, however, were anonymously returned to the door of the Student Media lab in the PCSU March 31.

The Lee Clarion also reported that around 175 copies of Volume 63, Issue 9 might have been stolen from the library and the Dixon Center on February 27.

Kevin Trowbridge, faculty adviser to Lee University Student Media, issued a statement saying, “I am disappointed and disturbed that anyone would commit such an act of censorship. Theft is a crime and, more importantly, it is morally wrong.”

The Lee Clarion asks that responsible parties step forward and is seeking tips that lead to information about the person(s) responsible.

The issue can be viewed in its entirety at www.LeeClarion.com.